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Childhood immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic: experiences in Haiti, Lesotho, Liberia and Malawi

OBJECTIVE: To examine changes in vaccination of children younger than 1 year during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (March 2020–August 2021) in Haiti, Lesotho, Liberia and Malawi. METHODS: We used data from health management information systems on vaccination of children aged 12 mon...

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Autores principales: Connolly, Emilia, Boley, Emma J, Fejfar, Donald Luke, Varney, Prince F, Aron, Moses B, Fulcher, Isabel R, Lambert, Wesler, Ndayizigiye, Melino, Law, Michael R, Mugunga, Jean-Claude, Hedt-Gauthier, Bethany
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: World Health Organization 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8795848/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35125536
http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.21.286774
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author Connolly, Emilia
Boley, Emma J
Fejfar, Donald Luke
Varney, Prince F
Aron, Moses B
Fulcher, Isabel R
Lambert, Wesler
Ndayizigiye, Melino
Law, Michael R
Mugunga, Jean-Claude
Hedt-Gauthier, Bethany
author_facet Connolly, Emilia
Boley, Emma J
Fejfar, Donald Luke
Varney, Prince F
Aron, Moses B
Fulcher, Isabel R
Lambert, Wesler
Ndayizigiye, Melino
Law, Michael R
Mugunga, Jean-Claude
Hedt-Gauthier, Bethany
author_sort Connolly, Emilia
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVE: To examine changes in vaccination of children younger than 1 year during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (March 2020–August 2021) in Haiti, Lesotho, Liberia and Malawi. METHODS: We used data from health management information systems on vaccination of children aged 12 months or younger in districts supported by Partners In Health. We used data from January 2016 to February 2020 and a linear model with negative binomial distribution to estimate the expected immunization counts for March 2020–August 2021 with 95% prediction intervals, assuming no pandemic. We compared these expected levels with observed values and estimated the immunization deficits or excesses during the pandemic months. FINDINGS: Baseline vaccination counts varied substantially by country, with Lesotho having the lowest count and Haiti the highest. We observed declines in vaccination administration early in the COVID-19 pandemic in Haiti, Lesotho and Liberia. Continued declines largely corresponded to high rates of COVID-19 infection and discrete stock-outs. By August 2021, vaccination levels had returned to close to or above expected levels in Haiti, Liberia and Lesotho; in Malawi levels remained below expected. CONCLUSION: Patterns of childhood immunization coverage varied by country over the course of the pandemic, with significantly lower than expected vaccination levels seen in one country during subsequent COVID-19 waves. Governments and health-care stakeholders should monitor vaccine coverage closely and consider interventions, such as community outreach, to avoid or combat the disruptions in childhood vaccination.
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spelling pubmed-87958482022-02-05 Childhood immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic: experiences in Haiti, Lesotho, Liberia and Malawi Connolly, Emilia Boley, Emma J Fejfar, Donald Luke Varney, Prince F Aron, Moses B Fulcher, Isabel R Lambert, Wesler Ndayizigiye, Melino Law, Michael R Mugunga, Jean-Claude Hedt-Gauthier, Bethany Bull World Health Organ Research OBJECTIVE: To examine changes in vaccination of children younger than 1 year during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (March 2020–August 2021) in Haiti, Lesotho, Liberia and Malawi. METHODS: We used data from health management information systems on vaccination of children aged 12 months or younger in districts supported by Partners In Health. We used data from January 2016 to February 2020 and a linear model with negative binomial distribution to estimate the expected immunization counts for March 2020–August 2021 with 95% prediction intervals, assuming no pandemic. We compared these expected levels with observed values and estimated the immunization deficits or excesses during the pandemic months. FINDINGS: Baseline vaccination counts varied substantially by country, with Lesotho having the lowest count and Haiti the highest. We observed declines in vaccination administration early in the COVID-19 pandemic in Haiti, Lesotho and Liberia. Continued declines largely corresponded to high rates of COVID-19 infection and discrete stock-outs. By August 2021, vaccination levels had returned to close to or above expected levels in Haiti, Liberia and Lesotho; in Malawi levels remained below expected. CONCLUSION: Patterns of childhood immunization coverage varied by country over the course of the pandemic, with significantly lower than expected vaccination levels seen in one country during subsequent COVID-19 waves. Governments and health-care stakeholders should monitor vaccine coverage closely and consider interventions, such as community outreach, to avoid or combat the disruptions in childhood vaccination. World Health Organization 2022-02-01 2021-11-17 /pmc/articles/PMC8795848/ /pubmed/35125536 http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.21.286774 Text en (c) 2022 The authors; licensee World Health Organization. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution IGO License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/legalcode (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/) ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In any reproduction of this article there should not be any suggestion that WHO or this article endorse any specific organization or products. The use of the WHO logo is not permitted. This notice should be preserved along with the article's original URL.
spellingShingle Research
Connolly, Emilia
Boley, Emma J
Fejfar, Donald Luke
Varney, Prince F
Aron, Moses B
Fulcher, Isabel R
Lambert, Wesler
Ndayizigiye, Melino
Law, Michael R
Mugunga, Jean-Claude
Hedt-Gauthier, Bethany
Childhood immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic: experiences in Haiti, Lesotho, Liberia and Malawi
title Childhood immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic: experiences in Haiti, Lesotho, Liberia and Malawi
title_full Childhood immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic: experiences in Haiti, Lesotho, Liberia and Malawi
title_fullStr Childhood immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic: experiences in Haiti, Lesotho, Liberia and Malawi
title_full_unstemmed Childhood immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic: experiences in Haiti, Lesotho, Liberia and Malawi
title_short Childhood immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic: experiences in Haiti, Lesotho, Liberia and Malawi
title_sort childhood immunization during the covid-19 pandemic: experiences in haiti, lesotho, liberia and malawi
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8795848/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35125536
http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.21.286774
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